Not to point fingers... but ever since Steve Louis left, that place went downhill quick.

Steve seemed to have a pulse on what his customers wanted, and he'd have in the store before they asked for it. Plus he'd go the extra mile to get things in and was as excited about getting things in in a timely matter (super fast). Not so in recent years, it seemed to be an annoyance to get things in, and hardly any effort was made in those regards. The store lacked its original charm and personality, when those things moved with Steve to NY. The last few years have been really frustrating for this Sour supporter.

steve was a good enough guy if he saw you with any regularity, but he was a stiff if he didn't know you. i can't account for everyday that john owned the shop, but i can say that he never had the grumpy hipster record store owner attitude during any of my many visits there. i respect that he gave it a go for more than four years, even though he knew that the the inter-webs and best buys would eventually put him out of business.

_________________Well, I suppose that I could pay my bills with blind-kid smiles, it's just that their money is easier.

the lack of funds spent at Sour since John, has nothing to do with the interwebs or Best Buys of the world.

I feel he wasn't really there, he was always on damn ebay. To be honest there wasn't much difference than buying something online than walking into the store, you got to give people a reason to come in, and make the effort.

Another thing is like him or not - Steve knew his shit. He turned me on to more bands than I can remember, he was super passionate and his passion showed up at Sour every day. He made an effort, sometimes in the used car salesman vein, but that was part of the charm of the place. I'm not saying John wasn't passionate, but Steve kept up with everything a little more than John did/does.

I also respect that he gave it a go, but the web and best buys don't automatically mean and end to a small business, not if its done right. Unfortunately the strain was so great - it left little room for error, be it in-store selection, prices, attitude, knowledge, etc...

Running the business from home (ebay) basically puts him in the boat along with hundreds/thousands of others. These "businesses", provide a faceless service, but thats all, might as well be phone books he's sellin. The move will not, and does not command the loyalty, impossible esp if you didn't have much in the charm department to start with.

If a indie shop is ran right (Magnolia, Amoeba, Reckless, Other Music), the interwebs don't have anything to do with it.

Last edited by cdubya on Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Running the business from home (ebay) basically puts him in the boat along with hundreds/thousands of others. These "businesses", provide a faceless service, but thats all, might as well be phone books he's sellin. The move will not, and does not command the loyalty, impossible esp if you didn't have much in the charm department to start with.

If a indie shop is ran right (Magnolia, Amoeba, Reckless), the interwebs don't have anything to do with it.

i'll end this:

you're right.

he sucks.

you know everything about his business.

oh, and steve was miss congeniality.

_________________Well, I suppose that I could pay my bills with blind-kid smiles, it's just that their money is easier.

C'mon man, I'm not being hostile. I'm not happy about this at all. I intensely support indie record stores more than your average joe, and I do it with my wallet. Why would I drive down to Magnolia when Sour was 15 minutes closer to my house? (note: I rarely did this before 2004) In fact, since 2004 I work about 5 minutes away, but still find myself driving down to campus to get my record/cd fix.

I never said he (John) sucks - I just think the core of the clientele that Steve installed at that shop (a selling point between the two, by the way) has failed to stay because of the way John runs things there, not knocking him, or you, personally. When I speak of charm, I was referring to the shop, even though the owner has a lot to do with that.

The Sour problems simply began when Steve left, most of those things were not because of a John vs Steve personality thing. But when John showed little interest, less drive, and/or excitement in the shop or things as simple as getting stuff in for the core customer base (it's not just me), it was hard to go back for a vague shopping experience at best. I never claimed to know everything about his business, but I do know enough to comment on how he ran it, this is from many personal experiences. Certainly it was an uphill battle, but I feel he never gave himself a chance, so it's not completely fair to blame the internet and what not.

Also, I never claimed Steve was congenial, but that was the last thing on his customers minds, believe me. He hated certain things he ordered in for me, and I hated his unabashed bias for all things Dylan. I'd always see Steve at shows and could tell him to get the band's material in, I'd go in the store and there it would be. This was no longer the case when he left. Steve's enthusiasm for music left the store when he left. Sour Records was successful enough when he ran it, and even though things in the marketplace have changed, I think things could have turned out different than they have.

Lastly, I understand you have an allegiance to John as a friend. When I first started going to Sour, many years ago, Steve was eager to know me by name. You might say sure he would, but what successful shop owner wouldn't make such an effort? I'll give you one guess. What I did have was an allegiance to Sour as a great indie record store. Now I don't. Nobody does.

Just saw Steve at Independent's Day Fest a few weeks ago. He used to employ my roommate Adam for a few years when we went to Otterbein. We lived at Sour Records. Steve got us anything and everything we ever could dream up, no matter how rare or hard to track down. He was super choosy when buying back cds, but gave good deals in trades. We thought it was fun to get Steve riled up on music and bring out the debates. That's why we shopped there, that's why we hung out there. To be immersed in music geekery. To walk into Sour and be called out by name and a get a verbal jab from Steve was like being part of an extended family. Heck, Steve even sold me a copy of Hello Nasty on vinyl a few days before it officially came out, so I could be a big shot for a few days with my friends on campus. That's awesome stuff.

I don't know John personally, but a few years ago I did sell some copies of my band's cd at the time, Junior High Mustache, of which he snapped up about 10 copies and paid us $4 a cd, sound unheard, because we were local and he was down to give us a chance. So, that has to count for something and the fact that he bought a music shop during a time when the music industry was/is topsy turvy, well, that takes some balls in this era. I dig it that he carried the torch on for a few more years.

Steve's around town, if you can find him. He's at all the big shows, normally with killer seats.